What I Love About Comeback Stories, Part 2

Oh, comeback stories. They are so inspiring when you’re watching them from the safety and security of your own sofa, and so very hard when you’re trying to craft one yourself.

The hardest part of this journey? Remembering, constantly, how easy some things used to be. Today, running three miles requires two walking breaks. But, you know what? I did it anyway. (You’ll be reading this on Tuesday, December 8, but I’m writing it on Sunday afternoon, December 6, right after that run. So yes, I can say with absolute certainty: I did it.)

That run happened after watching a comeback from, yes, the safety of my sofa: the Seattle Seahawks are finally playing their way back into playoff contention after a very shaky first half of the season. It’s so easy to forget when your team is playing well that there were ever any challenges, but, yeesh, it’s been a tough season.

(The other astonishing comeback this past week. Two words: Aaron Rodgers. Two more words: Hail Mary.)

I’m just sayin’.

Anyway…comeback stories. They are hard. Especially when you remember yourself at a lower weight, or faster race times, or smaller clothes, or way more energy. Or, if you’ve gone through a life-changing incident like an accident that has taken away some part of what you used to count on (the use of a limb, your balance, your stamina).

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I love sports, and I especially love great comeback stories. But the stories I most love aren’t the ones about multimillion-dollar athletes fighting “adversity” (the universal word for anything going wrong, like a few lost games). I’m most inspired when somebody in the regular ol’ world that I inhabit decides to make today just a little bit better than yesterday. Small, incremental steps. Paying attention. Celebrating all of the small moments that lead to rebuilding our confidence in our bodies.

Fitness is a huge, huge part of that.

So that’s what I wanted to say today. What I love about comeback stories is that all of us can have one. And you might just be inspiring others, simply by getting up in the morning and do what you’re capable of doing that day.

Today, if my sniffly nose and sore throat go away (it’s now Tuesday and I’m wrapping up this post before scheduling it to be sent out in a few minutes), I’ll go for that same three-miler again. And my plan is to keep on doing that, every other day, until those three miles are easy. Then we’ll tackle the next milestone. The next step on this comeback journey.

Recent Every48 workouts: In addition to that Sunday three-mile run (with two walk breaks), I’m getting out with Baby Bear for a “BabyRobics” class that I would love to tell you is easy, but it is most definitely not. It’s really hard for this mama to do strength training and aerobics after a night of less sleep than I would like (which is basically every night right now). But I show up, and that’s what I can do right now.